interestingcuriosfandomcom-20200213-history
Alexander Waverly
Alexander Waverley, born Francis Alexander Nugent, was born in Northhampton, England, in 1892. He was a prominent spy during the twentieth century, and is most famous for being the head of UNCLE. Early Life Alexander Waverley was known as Frank Nugent until he was twenty, and was a member of the Famous Five at Greyfriar’s School, around 1907. He was very self-effacing, and was loyal to his closest friend Harold Wharton. He was, alas, over-devoted to his troublesome brother Richard, who was in the Second Form. Nugent had many talents, including the ability to play the violin. He was good at games, and, within the limits of strength, an able opponent with gloves or without. He is described as being similar to Harry Wharton “in many ways- as proud and plucky, but lacking Wharton’s strength of character. Rather girlish of face- can make up well as a girl if need be- but not by any means effeminate.” Nugent graduated from University at 1912, and started to work as a clerk in Whitehall until 1914. When World War I broke out, Nugent enlisted in the Artist’s Rifles, and saw action at the French town of Brest in Brittany. He then served under General Maurice Sarrail (1856-1929) at the Macedonian Front. Near Salonica, Nugent saved Lieutenant Ward Baldwin, a soldier who had been studying chemical warfare since the start of the War. His right leg had been shattered by an enemy shell, and Nugent came out of his trench under enemy fire and dragged him to safety. In 1916, his regiment was transferred to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, led by General Edmund Allenby. On October 30, during the conquest of Palestine, Waverly was severely wounded and shipped home. By the time Waverly regained his health, the war was over. He returned to Civil Service and began to rise through the ranks of British Intelligence. In 1932, Nugent, now calling himself Waverly for secrecy purposes, accepted a post at Department Z, a branch of the British Secret Service that employed agents who, in the guise of civilians, could investigate matters with the minimum of publicity. The department focused on countering espionage, and continued throughout World War II. After the war, however, Department Z merged with Dr Stanislaus Alexander Palfrey’s Z5 group; this organisation provided a template for the later construction of U.N.C.L.E. U.N.C.L.E. The United Network Command for Law and Enforcement- U.N.C.L.E. for short- was founded in 1946, at the same time as the United Nations, and Alexander Waverley was recruited from Department Z to the organisation, to serve as Number One, Section One (Policy and Operations). It was Alexander Waverley who appointed the famous agents, Ilya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo, to their respective positions. Throughout the 1960s Waverly masterminded the deployment of Kuryakin and Solo against the evil organisation of T.H.R.U.S.H, and was responsible for much of the political positioning during the twentieth century. Waverly also employed the spy partnership of April Dancer and Mark Slate, who, although not as productive as Kuryakin and Solo, were still quite proficient at the secret agent business. In the late ‘60s, THRUSH was almost at full power again, due in no small part to its advanced computer capabilities. Waverly realized that the only way to crush THRUSH, once and for all, was to destroy the three mobile/alternating THRUSH Centrals, by tapping into and eliminating the three mobile/alternating Ultimate Computers. These Ultimate Computers were destroyed, but sadly, Waverly was killed during the final assault on THRUSH Island, when his command submarine is blown to bits. Category:People Category:Pages Category:Secret Agents and Spies Category:The Man from U.N.C.L.E.